Over-the-top Platforms are Increasing their TV Ad Spend

Over-the-top (OTT) platforms are increasing their budgets on national TV commercials, according to iSpot.tv. This year, the average US adult spent just under four hours per day watching TV, more than three times the amount of time spent on digital video, that being said, it’s no surprise that OTT platforms are switching over to TV to get more subscribers. Below is an outline of how some of the top video sites performed with regards to ad spend this year:

Hulu had the highest national TV ad spend in 2017. Hulu spent just under $100 million on national TV ad slots in 2017, a 32% increase from $75 million in 2016. The streaming platform’s deep-pocketed owners — Disney, 21st Century Fox, Comcast, and Time Warner — are able to invest aggressively in ad dollars to promote Hulu across their respective TV channels.

YouTube spent the least but increased its budget the most from last year. YouTube spent just under $18 million on TV commercials in 2017, marking a significant jump from the $3 million it spent in 2016. YouTube TV currently has 200,000 subscribers in the US, but that could balloon to 2 million by the end of 2018, according to KeyBank Capital Markets estimates.

Amazon Prime Video came on top of Netflix. The e-commerce giant spent $55 million on TV ads, up 74% from 2016. Meanwhile, rival Netflix spent just over $42 million, up 33% from 2016, per iSpot.tv. While Amazon spent more on national TV commercials, Netflix is investing more aggressively in content, spending $6 billion in content this year versus Amazon’s $4.5 billion.

Sony and Sling TV spent a significant amount of ad money this year. Sony spent nearly $77 million to market PlayStation Vue on national TV ads in 2017, a 20% increase over 2016, and second only to Hulu. Meanwhile, Sling TV spent $62 million on TV ads this year, an increase of 85% from $34 million in 2016.

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